Toscane Days
by LitJunkie
Summary: A cute idea I had when I was studying... about summer, holiday and fun ;D (will be E/G)
1. One big happy family

**Toscane Days 1**

"I do."

"I do."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Congratulations!!! We all hurried and gathered around them. We were really happy, I think all of us, for that moment. It was just pure joy for them, they really looked good together, and for that one moment all disagreements were forgotten. 

We moved in with them. All of us together. It was really awkward at the beginning, especially while Zoë and Jessie were forced to share a room. It was a very tense phase until we found some kind of balance.

I moved into the garage apartment and it gave me a feeling of independence, almost like I was living on my own now. I guess dad thought that way I might feel the need to make something of myself, to gather myself and find my place in the world.

At first it was so strange, to wake up and meet all of them, first thing in the morning, but gradually it became kind of a routine. We have this little hurried morning gathering where we all bump into each other while frantically grabbing something to eat on the way to school or work. 

I somehow got the feeling that Grace has something for me. I caught her sometimes, looking at me when she thinks no one notice, but I do. We also had this moment on the wedding day, we almost kissed, actually. I like her, she's a nice person and she's really smart and has this sarcastic sense of humor, but she's my step sister now, so I try to ignore her glances… but I don't feel like she's my sister too.

Zoë's a cute child, she's very observant for her age, I think. She can be a real pest, but she has her good moments too, I suppose I can relate to her as a sister. 

Lily, well she tries real hard to be ok with us, and I guess she's quite successful, I mean I feel that I can talk to her on better terms than with my mother right now, we just don't carry the years' baggage and I feel like she understands me better, or at least she is more supportive sometimes. She doesn't think my music is just a stupid dream, like my own parents, but then again, maybe she's just pretending… I don't know yet.

Jessie's not so happy about the whole thing, but she's getting used to it, especially since I moved to the garage and she got a room of her own. I think she and Grace became closer too, and she got this new best friend, Katie, and she looks so happy with her. I'm happy for her, I like seeing her that way, she really frightened me with the whole eating thing. I love my sister.

My dad is happy, after all this long story with my mother, he finally looks content and in place. He and Lily make a good couple. And I also feel like he's treating me with a lighter approach, gives me some space, now that he has his own life, Lily, and our new large family, to take care of. I've been getting along better with him lately. It really feels good. I can't say this about my mother, I think she feels a little left out in all this mess. I try to avoid confronting her as much as possible these days, but I'm afraid I'll make her feel neglected, it's a very thin line to work on…

***************

This morning I got up surprisingly early, and headed towards the kitchen. Everybody was already there, engrossed in their morning activities, meaning eating, bumping and yelling at each other to hurry up. "Morning Eli" dad noticed my presence and greeted me. "Hey guys, listen up, now that we're all here, Lily and I wanted to talk to you all this morning, but since we're in a hurry, we'll postpone it until tonight, so be home at…" 

"I guess seven will be right" Lily added. 

We all agreed and after Lily and dad left, I took the girls to school. "I bet they're having another child…" Zoë said excitedly. "No way, there are already too many people living in the house…" Jessie cut her excitement. Grace just smiled at me and rolled her eyes gesturing to our sisters. I returned a smile and decided to interfere. "Hey, calm down, why don't we just wait 'till tonight instead of making all kind of assumptions…". They both made a face at each other, but stopped arguing. 

We reached Zoë's school and she got off and waved goodbye. Next stop was Grace's and Jessie's school, they reluctantly got off the car too, it's only another week before summer's break starts, but as soon as Jessie noticed Katie, her frown changed into a little smile. Grace turned and waved bye and mouthed a 'thank you' to me and then left too. 

I headed to 'Book Lovers' for my morning shift, but I must say I was quite curious about our 'family meeting' tonight myself.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

See how I study for my exams? Bad me! I'm going now, it's just that I had this cute idea for another story and it just wrote itself…  

Drop me a line & make me smile ;D

Litjunkie


	2. Family Bonding

**Toscane Days 2**

The shift at 'Book Lovers' went by quickly and after it ended I headed to coop's house, and picked him up to go practicing in my mom's house' basement. After a short intermission, she lets me practice there again. We've had a good practice, I think we're really getting better. 

We all arrived home by seven, to find Lily and dad already sitting and waiting for us in the living room. "Hi, we're glad you're all home" Lily started. "We have some great news for you…" Dad continued but was cut by Zoë's excited shout "I knew it! You're gonna have a baby, right?" she said it as if it was a fact rather than a question. 

"What?" both Lily and dad looked baffled… "No honey, we're not having a baby" Lily said "But it's still good news…". I could definitely see Jessie's face relax as Lily talked. 

"Well, what we wanted to tell you is that we've got a really great offer for the summer's vacation …" dad began to explain. "Remember this rich customer I've worked with a few months ago? Ron? Well, we became quite friendly with each other since then and he was so satisfied with the work I've done for him, that he had offered me a very generous offer"

We all looked at him waiting for some more details. "He offered us a month's vacation in his villa in Tuscany, Italy" dad stopped for a dramatic effect. "And we've discussed his offer and decided we should all go together"

Lily took it from there "We never really had our honeymoon and it'll be a great chance for all of us to bond… ".

Zoë was the first one to digest the news "Can I bring a friend with me? Please?" Lily and dad looked at each other for a moment, considering her request and then dad said "Well, I don't see any problem with that, if her parents won't mind paying for the plane ticket and let her fly with us…" "Thank you! You're the best parents ever!!" Zoë squealed. Jessie was the next one "Can I please bring Katie with me? Otherwise I'll be bored by myself". This time Lily answered "Sure, I don't see a problem with it." 

Grace looked thoughtful, but remained silent. 

"Dad, what about my band practices? We can't allow a month with no practices, we've just started improving lately" I exclaimed. "Come on Eli, you can take your guitar with you and when you'll come back you can practice twice as hard, it's not such a big deal, I'll even talk to your mother about letting you do that" at least he acknowledges the fact that it's important to me…

"What do you say Grace?" Lily asked her since she hasn't reacted yet. "Sure, why not…" she mumbled indifferently, it was impossible to read what she really thought about it from her expression.  

"So are you ok with it Eli?" Dad asked me again "Yes, fine I guess it'll be interesting to go abroad… I don't suppose you'll let coop and wink join too, ah?" I decided I might as well try my luck. "Well, there aren't so many rooms in this villa and we do want some peace and quiet over there…" Dad confirmed my guess. 

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Fine so it's settled then" Dad announced. "We'll be leaving on the second day after the school's holiday starts, so you'll have plenty of time to pack for a month's stay." 

"Great, I'll talk to Ron and let him know it's final" 

"We're going to have such a great vacation" He added joyfully. 

***************

The next week passed by pretty fast, I must be getting old… and school was out for the summer's holiday starting tomorrow. 

Dad was so excited about this trip, as if it was his first ever. He kept bringing us all kinds of brochures and magazines about Italy and the place we'll be staying in. It's called 'Casa Elisa' or something like that. It's supposed to be one of the oldest in this area of Tuscany, by the Arno valley. Ron told dad that there are only a few other houses around the villa, so it's very peaceful, and there's a little village only a few kilometers away so it's in a walking or mountain bikes ride distance. 

Two more days 'till our family bonding trip… 

***************

Hey, I know it's way too short, but I'm in between exams and this is actually just the inro. for this story. 

Drop me a line and make me smile ;D

LitJunkie


	3. Vertigo

**Toscane Days 3**

"The flight leaves at noon, make sure you're all packed up by tonight" Lily told us over dinner. Right after dinner I went over to coop's house to say bye and assure him our band will be fine. We agreed that we'll practice individually and we chose four songs to concentrate on in particular. "Right, so I'll see you man" I told Coop. "Have a good time, I heard those Italian chicks are great" Coop winked at me as I left. I got back home at about 23:30 but decided it's too late to pack, and just crushed into bed and fell asleep.

I woke up at about 8:00, and realized it's really a good idea for me to pack before it's too late… I threw some cloths into my duffle bag, a toothbrush and so on… 'don't forget the hair gel…' then I packed a new notebook, in case I'll get inspired during our vacation and of course I put my guitar beside the bag. 

After I finished packing I went into the house to grab something to eat. I could feel the excitement in the air, Zoë, Jessie and dad ran all around the house smiling. Lily's probably still packing or something… I wonder where Grace is though. 

We all had breakfast together and then everyone grabbed their luggage and we left for the airport. Katie and Zoë's friend, Emily, were supposed to be at the airport by 10:00, Katie's parents were supposed to pick up Emily on their way. The traffic wasn't so bad, since the morning's pressure already decreased and we were at the airport in less than an hour. 

As planned, not long after we arrived, Katie and Emily joined us too, and we decided to go check in our tickets and send our luggage away first thing. After all the formalities were finished we were directed to the waiting area, since we've had practically two hours 'till our flight.

There were a few tax free shops on the waiting area, so I decided to take a little walk, maybe it'll calm my nerves, it's my first flight ever, and I was pretty stressed about it. I walked around for a while, strolling along the shelves of a sports shop when I heard my name "Eli, wait up" it was Grace. "Hey, it got very boring over there, so I decided to take a walk, can I join you?" 

"Sure" 

"So… seen anything interesting yet?" 

"Not really, it's like for some odd reason they only have junk in these stores" 

"Well, maybe they figured that people will get so bored they're gonna buy anything…" Grace joked. She looked at me and probably noticed I looked a little stressed.

"Eli, have you ever flown before?"

"Actually no, it's my first time" 

"Are you worried?" 

"I guess a little" I admitted.

"It's not that bad, actually, it's a lot safer than driving a car… You really shouldn't worry about it so much" She comforted.

"You know, I was terrified on my first flight too, but eventually it turned up to be a pretty great experience." "The clouds look amazing from above, and when we flew to Orlando when I was little, I got to see the sunrise from the plane, and it was beautiful."

"You know what" I said and looked at her appreciatively "it doesn't sound that terrible anymore…" "Thank you Grace".

***************

"Flight IT-703 in now boarding at gate 7b" a voice announced. "That's us guys, c'mon" dad called enthusiastically. We gathered our carry on bags and went to the boarding gate.

We finally boarded the plane after waiting on the long line for about fifteen minutes. I got a window seat. We all had tickets for the same row but the seats were separated into three different sections. On the left column sat Dad and Lily in the middle were four seats, so Jessie and Zoë sat there with their friends, and Grace and I sat on the right ones. 

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts we are about to take off in a minute" the captain's voice announced.

I guess I must have been a little shaken, since the next thing I felt was Grace's hand trying to get my attention. "Eli, are you ok?" She sounded concerned. I snapped out of my daze and quickly answered "Yeah, sure". "You should fasten your seat belt, we're about to take off" 

"Oh, right" I fastened. 

The take off wasn't that bad, and the clouds did look beautiful from above, just like Grace told me. I watched the movie they played for a while, whilst Grace read a book. The movie was pretty boring so I just gazed outside. 

All of the sudden the plane started to bump a little. I felt like we are going to die for a moment, until the captain announced it was nothing to worry about.

Grace closed her book and looked at me with an intense gaze "You'll get used to flying eventually, I mean it's not like you'll have a choice when you're all successful and famous, you'll go on tours around the US, heck, around the world even, you won't even think about it then, it'll be as natural as riding a bus, you'll see, trust me" As Grace told me those faith filled words her eyes shone, like she really believed I could do it all, I could be someone someday. I felt special. For the first in a long time now, I felt special for being me. And it happened when she talked about me. 

After she finished her monologue, Grace looked a little embarrassed, I must have been staring at her, I was pretty stunned by her words, so she quickly opened her book again and started reading again. 

I really don't think I like planes… it's just unnatural, the air is all dry and stuffed, I don't feel so good.  

But although I didn't feel good, somehow I was pretty happy.

***************

I really appreciate my great reviewers!!! You never cease to make me smile and feel good about the story, thank you!

BTW, **Shelly** I've never been to Italy, (yet ;D I'd like to visit there someday, it sounds like an amazing place), all the things I am writing are coming from the internet, my imagination and a book I've read about Tuscany a few years ago… so sorry if I'll make some mistakes along the way. ;p

Drop me a line and make me smile ;D

LitJunkie


	4. Welcome to Toscany

**Toscane Days 4**

The rest of the flight went pretty uneventful. I watched another movie and then I fell asleep for a few hours and before I knew it, we were about to land. 

When we arrived to the airport, we waited by the luggage claim area for our bags and dad and Lily went to rent a van, so we could all fit in together. Finally after about twenty minutes, we had all our luggage with us, and a few minutes after dad and Lily were back and we headed towards our home for the next month.

I must admit the scenery was impressive. It was so different and much more relaxed than home. The roadsides were laced with colorful flowers and there was a heavy, sweet, flowery spring scent in the air. Throughout the drive, it seemed like green Is the prevalent color around here, the valley we drove through was covered with a green blanket of fields, vineyards and orchards and from time to time you could see a cow or a goat lazily munching the grass. 

We drove for about an hour when the sun was just about to set and when it did, I was awe struck. I never pay much attention to this kind of stuff, but anyway, there wasn't anything else to do, so listening to some punk rock band on my CD player, I got to watch one of the most amazing sunsets ever. Truthfully, the music suddenly seemed rather unfitting for the moment. I don't even know how to describe it, the colors were so reach and it felt so powerful, maybe it had something to do with the fact that we were out of the polluted city, or the open green space around us, I don't know.   

I'm pretty sure this place would inspire me to write some extra sentimental stuff. It was in the air, and if I'm saying it, being the not so touchy touchy guy that I am, there must be something to it… 

***************

"We're almost there…" Lily announced as she checked once again her map and told dad to take the next turn right. 

Dad took the right and after about ten minutes, we arrived 'Casa Elisa'. We couldn't see much, because it was totally dark by now, so we just unloaded the bags and headed towards the house.

"Hurry up dad I want to see it" Jessie nagged dad when he fumbled with the keys a little too long. It wasn't so late, but we were all pretty bushed from the day long flight and drive. 

Finally, he opened the door, and we all tried to find the light switch. Grace found it first. 

As she pressed the switch, a beautiful room was revealed to our eyes. It wasn't fancy; it was a peasant/ farmer style kitchen, very homey, you know, with the heavy wood table in the center, on the wall on the corner hanged a few heavy pans and a few other kitchen utensils. The room had a special smell, I don't know exactly how to define it yet, some kind of country smell, a healthy smell. Well, enough about the kitchen, we moved to the next room, it was the living room. There was no T.V. but there was a huge fireplace, and though it probably won't be useful in this time of the year, it gave the room a very warm and welcoming feeling. This room also had the wood motif pretty strong. There was a heavy two seats couch on one side and on the other side were two very comfortable looking armchairs. 

There was a door, probably leading to the garden, but we were too tired and it was too dark now anyway too explore it. The hallway led to a small toilet and beside it were the stairs leading to the second floor. 

"I'm going to make some coffee" dad announced "anyone else wants some?" 

"Sure, I'll join you" Lily said. "Me too" "Yes" "Me too"…

Eventually we all sat around the kitchen's table, drinking a very good Italian coffee. "This place is great, you must thank Ron again for his generous offer" Lily told dad. "Yes, it's absolutely beautiful here" Jessie added. "Thank you for taking me with you" Katie said. "You're almost a part of the family" Lily smiled at her warmly. "And you too Emily." She added, trying to make her feel comfortable too. 

We all drank our coffee and talked a little about our plans for tomorrow. We decided to go look for a grocery store first thing in the morning and explore the house and it surroundings. 

"I'm so tired" Grace yawned and it seemed to be contagious, since we all started yawning after her. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's tired here…" Grace smiled at the picture of all of us. "Maybe we should go and look for the bedrooms now…" She offered. 

"That's an excellent idea, honey" Lily said.  

***************

Hey, sorry for the long intermission, but now I'm back on track, though the updates are going to be more on a weekly basis rather than daily, as it was at first. I hope you'll like it anyway. 

As always thank you so much for the great reviews!

Drop me a line and make me smile ;D

LitJunkie


	5. Sleeping Arrangements

**Toscane Days 5**

"Ron told me there are four bedrooms upstairs, and there's supposed to be one downstairs too, I guess we've missed it before." dad said

We all got up, put the cups in the sink and went towards the stairs, and apparently, as Ron mentioned to dad, there really was a bedroom we didn't see before, just beside the stairs. It was a pretty big room, with a king size bed. As the rest of the house, it had a very cozy atmosphere. The walls were made of an exposed bricks, which made it look like something out of a middle age set, and a heavy wooden closet beside a large window covered with a burgundy curtain. 

"I guess we'll take this one" Lily suggested. "Let's go upstairs…"

On the second floor we found two bedrooms pretty similar to the one downstairs, and two smaller rooms, with queen sized beds in them. "I suppose that Jessie and Katie can take one of the bigger rooms and so does Zoë and Emily and you guys.." dad pointed at Grace and me, "Can each have a room of your own." 

That sounded pretty reasonable and everyone was happy with the arrangements. We went back downstairs to bring our bags from the kitchen and each one turned to his room. 

***************

As we went back upstairs I told Grace I didn't mind which room she'll choose, and she said felt the same, so we just randomly decided I'll take the furthest one down the corridor, and she'll take the one next to mine.

First thing I did when I entered my room, I dropped my bag on the floor and fell on the bed. 'this was the longest day of my life…' all I wanted was to fall asleep right at that moment, although I felt like a shower wouldn't hurt, I was too tired to care, but I had to go to the bathroom anyway. So I took my toothbrush out of the bag and decided to try the door on the side of the room, maybe it was a bathroom. The door was locked. I tried again, but it didn't open, so I decided to go outside in search of a bathroom. Just as I was about to leave the bedroom, I heard the inside door open, and Grace appeared on the other side of it. "Grace?" "Oh, Eli, I guess we share a bathroom…" 

There was a moment of silence, and then Grace offered me the bathroom. "Go a head Eli, I was just finished in there…" she said. 

"Thanks"

"I guess we need to have some kind of a system with the bathroom here" I joked to ease the tension that lingered in the air. 

"I don't think we're going to have any trouble, there's a lock on each door, inside the bathroom, so whenever each of us goes in, all we have to do is lock it and that's ok, I think…" 

"Sounds good enough for me" I smiled at her.

"So… Good night Eli, I'm totally exhausted, I'm going to sleep" 

"Good night neighbor…" I smiled at her.

***************

I went into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, used the toilet and in two minutes time I was back on the bed, falling asleep.

***************

Morning came way too soon, but then I remembered, no school anymore, not even work, we're on holiday, so I lazily dragged myself towards the window, closed the curtain and went back to my sweet sleep.

Two hours later…

I opened my eyes having this feeling I just had a great dream, only I couldn't remember what it was about. I took a few more minutes just lying on the bed, enjoying the feeling of waking up after a good night's sleep. In no hurry I then went to open the curtain. 

A very bright light welcomed my eyes and it took me a few moments to get used to the strong rays, but as I could see straight again, I was met with one of the most amazing gardens I've ever seen. It was absolutely beautiful. From my room I could see almost the whole garden, and it was huge. It was obviously well kept, yet it had a wild touch in it. The second thing I instantly noticed was the strong flowery smell, that welcomed me as I opened the window. My senses were captivated by this, uet I was rudely disturbed by a loud grumble which came from the general direction of my stomach. Food. 

Maybe I'll go down, grab something to eat and then go explore the garden for a while. I went into the bathroom, after carefully knocking and making sure it was empty first. The last thing I need is an awkward meeting to ruin our stay over here. I actually got along fairly well with Grace over the last few days and I had no plans of messing that up over the stupid bathroom schedule…

After I took a shower and changed into some appropriate holiday clothing, meaning some baggy shorts and a white T, I went down in search of some food.

I was starving. Maybe it's the country air, I don't know… 

"Hey Eli" Lily greeted me as I walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning E" dad joined in.

"Do we have some food around here? I'm starving…" 

"Actually, we've just got up ourselves only a few minutes ago…" Lily remarked "We made some coffee, but we have to go buy some food."

"Maybe you can do us a favor E, go look for the store…" Dad asked "It's supposed to be only a few miles a way according to Ron's directions."

"Sure, I guess… that way I'll get to eat first…" I smiled at dad and Lily and grabbed the car keys. 

"Eli, maybe you can ask Grace to come help you, she's up too, I saw her going out to the garden a few minutes ago. Here, I made a list of the necessities" Lily handed me a not so short list and a few local bills. "Drink some coffee, I'll go get Grace from the garden" Lily went out. 

"Thanks E, I appreciate you doing this, we're going to take a walk around the area in a few minutes"

"I just want to be close to the food dad, don't worry about it…"

***************

As always thank you so much for the great reviews!

Drop me a line and make me smile ;D

LitJunkie


	6. Good Morning

**Toscane Days 6**

I poured myself a cup of Italian coffee and sat by dad, slowly waking up. 

"So, what do you think E? Is it that bad?"

"I guess not as bad as I thought, this country is kind of relaxing…"

"Lily and I took a walk around the garden a few minutes ago, it's amazing… there's all kind of fruit trees around it, I think it's quite charming myself, picking your own food…" dad said in a dreamily tone.

"Yeah…" I said in a teasing tone and looked at him smiling. 

"Hey, don't laugh at me for appreciating the small things in life…" dad defended himself. I just made an innocent face and kept sipping my coffee. 

Just a few seconds later, Lily and Grace came in the kitchen. 

"Morning E" Grace greeted. 

"Morning Grace" I finished my coffee.

"Ready to go?" 

"Sure" Grace answered.

"Than let's go."

  
"Where exactly did Ron said the store was dad?" 

"Just follow the road for two and a half miles, than take a left towards the village, I think it's called "Panzano"."

"O.k. see you later, enjoy your walk…" Grace told them.

 "Bye". 

We got into the van and drove by the directions dad gave us. We were silent at the beginning, both of us taking in our surroundings and admiring the landscape. 

"It's really beautiful here" Grace suddenly said.

"Yeah" I agreed.

"I didn't really want to go on this trip at the beginning…" Grace continued. 

"Actually, I didn't want to too… but I think I'm beginning to change my mind. I mean except for missing my band practices, it's nice to have some time off without my Mom and Dad always nagging me about finding a job and going to college."

"Yes, I've seen what you mean, I guess they've been on you pretty hard lately…" 

"You don't know how much… my mom is even worse than dad. They just don't seem to understand that I like music and that I really want to make a living through it, some people do… you know… and even if I won't make it and be a huge success, I have to at least give it a try, or else I'll never forget myself for missing the chance to be one."

"I think you should stand up for yourself, it's the most important thing in my opinion, to always try and do what you like to do, if you have a choice… only after you give it a chance you should compromise." 

"Thanks, it's nice to know I have at least one supporter" I said with a smile. "Maybe you can make my dad see that too… you can be pretty convincing." 

Two minutes after we took the turn left a small village appeared in front of us. 

"I can't believe people still live like that these days, it looks so peaceful…" Grace said. There were a few houses on each side of the main street, which was actually the only street, each colored in another shade of brown, with a green roof on top and open wooden blinds. On each one of the windowsills there were blooming flowerpots and the general picture looked like a postcard.

In the middle of the street was a little "town square" which included a few little shops, a grocery store, a bakery and another one I couldn't see inside. "I guess we found the store" I parked the car and we walked into the half market half grocery store. 

"Buongiorno, felice di conoscerla, Felice di conoscerti" th e owner of the store greeted us with a warm smile 

"Grazie Mille" Grace answered and surprised me even more as she continued.

"Mi piacerebbe comprare alimento" 

"Prego" the owner answered and Grace took me by the hand and turned towards the groceries shelves. 

"What was that? I wasn't aware of you being able to speak Italian…" 

"I'm not" Grace answered.

"Than how did you know what he said and how did you know how to answer him?" I wondered. 

"I just did a little background check before the trip and memorized a few basic phrases… nothing much… don't be so amazed that's about all I know" Grace said dismissively. 

"You sounded like a native to me" I smiled at her. 

"What did he said after good morning? That much I know…" 

"He said nice to meet you, and than I said thank you very much, we came to buy some food, that's all and he said you're welcome…". 

"Come on let's take a bag, we have a lot of things to buy." Grace reminded me.  

We gathered the long list of items, and than paid to the nice store owner. 

"Ciao" 

"Addio"

***************

Hey to anyone who reads my story, I know this story's rhythm is a little slower, but I like it that way, so forgive me if I'll get a little carried away with the landscapes or the nature descriptions or other small details, cause I want to make it a little different… hope you'll like it anyway,  

As always thank you so much for the great reviews!

Drop me a line and make me smile ;D

LitJunkie


End file.
